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A young Hungarian woman has died after being crushed by a snowcat piste machine on the Dobratsch mountain in Carinthia in southern Austria.

The 24-year-old was riding in the snowcat with her boyfriend, when he lost control of the machine. She was thrown out of the cab, and crushed under the vehicle.

The woman and her 40-year-old partner, who manages an Alpine hut on the mountain, were on their way up to the summit. He lost control of the snowcat on a snow-covered track, about 1,920 meters above sea level. The vehicle slipped off the track and went tumbling down the mountain, landing on its right side about 15 metres below the path.

The young woman was trapped under the heavy machine and died before an emergency medical team and fire officers could reach her. Her boyfriend had to walk up to the hut in order to call the medics, which took him an hour. By the time help arrived, it was too late. The 40-year-old man was unharmed but is in a state of shock.